Another very good week in a season of very good and likable shows—the highlights, by far, were Concrete Revolutio and Haikyuu!!. I’m pretty happy to say I’m pretty much in the exact same spot with this season as I was last week: exceedingly happy at how good things have been and joyful that it’s been this easy to like everything I’m watching.

The Perfect Insider, Episode 2: I think I could have been tempted to blog this show had I not already had Hyouka on my schedule, but I’m thankful I avoided that mistake. I don’t mean that The Perfect Insider doesn’t have the depth and weight that would make it a good blogging show. It does, but I really think I prefer to allow The Perfect Insider to speak for itself—because it’s just so darn good at doing exactly that. There’s a kind of subtle unsubtly to this show, in a way that causes it to be both arresting and vaguely ethereal at the same time. There’s a weight to these characters that’s constantly being compromised by the insubstantial nature of their philosophies and disengaged ways of interacting with each other. It’s like seeing a bunch of marble bounce around inside a colorless vacuum cube, never to actually collide with each other. It’s almost kind of morbid to watch them contact with each other? Anyways, sorry to disappoint if you’re hoping to see me break down the cinematography—as far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing more to be said about the two shots below…or about the rest of the episode.

Haikyuu!! S2, Episode 3: I don’t expect these kinds of episodes from Haikyuu!!, but I’m glad they exist. For a show that’s revolved entirely around volleyball, getting a genuine (and excellent) character arc from a non-volleyball player was a surprise. To have it be Yachi was a genuine delight. I loved Yachi before she even showed up in an episode proper, but in the two episodes she’s been around (and been the featured character, nonetheless), I’ve been pleasantly surprised at just how wonderful she is. I know the focus of the show will inevitably shift back the Karasuno volleyball team—as it should—but getting to spend sometime getting to know Yachi…well, I’ve been very happy with it. Better yet, Yachi’s struggle this week—whether or not she wanted to commit to something, especially something involving people who are super passionate about that something—is one I relate to a lot. And to then tie that in with a small family story about Yachi and her mom and to have that story end the way it did? Since when do I cry watching Haikyuu!!?

Concrete Revolution, Episode 3: Man, this show just gets better and better—also, hello Yutaka Nakamura! The more time we spend with the Superhuman Bureau (the past timeline Superhuman Bureau, that is), the more I come to really like them. They’re an odd group to put together, but—at least for now—they work really well together. And I don’t mean professionally, since it’s obvious they’re out of step with each other and more than a little dysfunctional. Yet, once again, Conrevo shows it has the writing chops to make these short stories emotionally and thematically effective. The overriding idea in Conrevo—disillusionment—is a powerful one, and seeing the show come at it from different angles each week has been a fascinating and well-conceived way to to tackle the theme and avoid it feeling overly cynical or repetitive. Although…is Conrevo cynical? Early on, it doesn’t seem to hold a much of a bright outlook for anyone. The good people get exiled or corrupted, the bad ones…are they even really bad? I think the resolution of Jiro (and Kikko)’s stories will probably hold the answer.

Gundam Tekketsu, Episode 3: A much more relaxed episode than the last two, despite featuring a duel. Which…actually feel kind of weird considering how much happened and how the body count for this show continued to increase. The most important piece of this element, I think, was simply how willing Mika is to do whatever people ask of him, particularly when it involves killing. Orga tells him to kill Crank, Mika sets out to do it. Crank asks Mika to kill him, Mika obliges. And this is interesting, because it’s not as if Mika is an entirely blank canvas. He’s got some semblance of emotion and motivation to him, but he still feels extremely malleable. Orga and Kudelia, on the other hand, are both proving be me very definite, hard characters, even if Kudelia is still figuring out exactly how she’s supposed to go about this fight. I was pretty delighted by how quickly she swerved away from “I’ve gotta fight in a robot to be strong/useful” to “I can fight in other ways.” Okada saves Gundam, week 3, is in the books.

Comet Lucifer, Episode 3: Two episodes in one, but both were good, so no complaints here. I continue to be delighted by the “Kaon and Sogo function as Felia’s mom and dad” schtick, particularly because Felia continues to cling to Kaon first, and Sogo second. Kaon’s actually getting a whole lot of good characterization by way of how she treats Felia, which is unfortunately leaving Sogo out in the cold a bit character-wise. Even so, little tricks like Sogo setting up a bunch of the hoverscooter things to fire at the beserk mecha were nice touches. But, wait, I’ve skipped ahead to the second half already. The first half was mostly just a time to get to know the town and rejoice over Felia’s cute faces and Moura’s snark (thanks, Minori Inase, you’re doing great work). The second half was less good thanks to the villain having to be a creepy, semi-rape threat guy, but the tightrope mecha battle was super cool. All in all, the show continues to be fun and cute, and that’s all I want it to be!

Short Takes~

• Miss Monochrome S3, Episode 3: Summary—a reversed battery reverses literally everything about Miss Monochrome, including her gender. More absurd humor from a show that excels at exactly that.
• K: Return of Kings, Episode 3: This show is still: 1) super pretty if you like colors, 2) surprisingly easy to invest in, 3) kind of awesome, 4) filled with good-looking dudes, 5) boasting Neko as my favorite character—and is not, 5) still teasing Shiro’s return because he’s back! YES.
• Noragami Aragoto, Episode 3: Man, this show continues to improve as the situation for our characters continues to disintegrate. It’s tough to watch, because I like all of these characters and the emotional devastation being wrecked on them is sad, but it’s also gratifying to see Noragami continue to swing for the emotional fences and generally succeed. Just please no “Hiyori loses memory” plot again.
• One Punch Man, Episode 3: Genos’ fights are almost more fun than Saitama’s, simply because he has a much wider array of weaponry and attacks to choose from. Lesser episode from this show.
• Heavy Object, Episode 3: Bleck. This week’s livetweets.